Ideas

Ideas without demandsFriskis&Svettis is a sports association with an unusual goal within the sporting world. There is no finishing tape to break, no net to place the ball in and no competitors to beat. Our goal is a smile.

The smile from deep withinThe smile that Friskis&Svettis pursues is to be felt more than seen. Yet, it is powerful enough to win over all the negative aspects of training: being short of breath, the aching muscles and the paralysing, dreaded lactic acid.

Burn with desireAbove all, that special smile shall win over the "I should" dilemma. Training driven by a bad conscience is not usually much fun, regular or long-lasting. Therefore, the sports association Friskis&Svettis builds all its activities on the idea that training should be fuelled by desire.

Longing to train If it is fun to train, then you will want to repeat the act, you will long for the next session. It may even reach the stage where you break into a smile whilst in the middle of one of your daily chores. Because you are happy with yourself, because you can feel your body and you like it, quite simply, because you feel good. To smile that special smile is just as enjoyable as a slimmer waistline, a lower cholesterol level, long slender muscles or a personal best in the Stockholm Marathon.

Who needs more body focus? A sports association with a goal as odd as a smile which doesn't even need to be seen, must first live up to somewhat different training requirements. Such training must of course contain more than just a correctly executed leg curl (remember proper braking and avoid curving your back). It must be more than a pedal technique that strengthens both the quadriceps and the gluteus maximus. And it must be more than well executed grapevines and lunges. But Friskis&Svettis is, despite everything else, a sports association, and a sports association should also be concerned with the body. It is not exactly an art form to play the fool and get a laugh. So, of course, we possess all the competence you can image in terms of strength, mobility, fitness, mitochondria and alveoli. Friskis&Svettis can be training freaks, fixated with bodies and preachers of health issues when required, although it is rarely required. Who needs to be more fixated with the body?

The need for enjoyable training is much greater That's why that special smile is the goal, and the way to the goal is only via the kind of training that also has room for the soul. If you are just back from training when you read this, you may even feel the corners of your mouth slightly curving upwards.